#really it's his own fault if we're talking about OG

[misc-obeyme]

Early game mammon and mc beef is such a funny concept to me

Mc: I'll pray for you

Mammon: you better fucking not

-👾

This brings to mind the question of whether or not saying things like "bless you" is harmful to demons. I've thought about this concept, but I hadn't considered what might happen if you just straight up prayed for one of them lol.

MC: And please bless Mammon that he may see the error of his gambling ways-

Mammon: Ahhhh stop that!

Just imagining him hopping around 'cause it's like prickly or something lol.

I think MC could probably ask for anything in that moment and he'd just be like okay okay whatever ya want human!!

[altocat]

i saw that you also said you love to talk about other characters, not just sephiroth, so i thought i'd ask: what are your favorite things/traits/moments etc of all of the playable characters we've had across the compilation of 7? i feel like i can talk about all the characters forever :)

Ooh yeah! This will be fun. Okay!

Cloud: Cloud is the most relatable character to me, and probably my favorite if we're being honest. I relate strongly to his identity issues, and I love when he tries to act tough while concealing a softer nature. My personal favorite scene with him is the flashback where he realizes that he was stronger than Sephiroth this whole time, throwing Sephiroth down the pit. It's a powerful moment, probably Cloud's single greatest moment in the entire series.

Tifa: Tifa is literal perfection. She looks like a tough tomboy and yet she's also one of the kindest people ever. She's maternal, loyal, supportive, and devoted to a fault. The team would be lost without her. She's the glue that holds everyone together. An absolute queen. My favorite moment with her is Under the Highwind, regardless of her relationship with Cloud being romantic or platonic.

Barret: Barret's got a heart of gold. He's always part of my main party when playing the OG. A great comrade and an even GREATER father. His relationship with Marlene is beautiful and so warm and wholesome. Barret also spits some iconic quotes over the course of the game, as well as some hard truths. My favorite scene with him, naturally, is his encounter with Dyne. The line "my hands are too stained to carry her anymore" gets me to cry no matter how many times I play.

Aerith: Aerith is the biggest hero of FFVII next to Cloud. She's the one who ultimately saves the day, and all through her sacrifice. I'm not even gonna talk about my favorite moment with her because...you guys already know the scene. It's the single most famous scene in gaming history. Aerith has a playful, occasionally chaotic edge to her personality that she hides behind a sweet smile. I absolutely adore that about her. She's so full of love and so full of selflessness, but she also loves to tease people. Also an absolute queen.

Red XIII: Nanaki is a cat btw. I have always seen him as a cat. That's my controversial opinion on him lmao. Also him howling for Seto makes me ugly cry every single time without fail. I appreciate that Nanaki seems occasionally stoic and serious, but then has kind of a childlike or immature fear or insecurity about something. There's that duality to him that ties to the other characters in a sense. Anyway, I love him. He is a very good boy.

Cid: Cid took a while to grow on me initially. He's pretty rough around the edges. But my favorite moment with him happens in the last third where he sorta becomes the de facto leader of the group with Cloud gone. And I like that he seems to have reconciled with Shera as well. Honestly, he's just kind of a badass and really cool at what he does. Also he gets to go to space. Good for him tbh.

Cait Sith: This one is hard because there's always a debate as to how much of a character Cait Sith actually IS. It's Reed puppeting a machine/doll basically. How much of Cait Sith has a mind of his own? Regardless, Cait Sith isn't my fave. He's a spy, after all. But he makes up for it in the end, even if he kinda fades into the background. Reed is honestly more of an interesting character overall. I can't name any specific favorite moments with Cait Sith specifically. But also he's a small Scottish cat. And that's rad.

Vincent: This edgy boi. Also not one of my faves, but he's grown a lot more on me over time. He wins for always having the coolest voice in the entire group. And I really like the scene where he reunites with Lucrecia. Vincent is kind of gruff and understated at times compared to the rest of the cast. But he has a gentle side as well, and one hell of a cool backstory. Also I love monsters and gothic imagery in general.

Yuffie: Yuffie is...my least favorite main character. I don't hate her. I've just never been a fan of the "spunky loudmouth child" trope. With that said, I'm sure the Remake trilogy will breathe new life into her and add some extra appeal for me. I like what I've seen so far. And Yuffie's bluntness and playfulness can be cute from time to time.

Zack: Counting him because of Crisis Core. He's probably my third favorite character. His death is the saddest scene in the entire compilation imo. He's a character who is wholly encompassed by love, who deals with a LOT of pain, and who proves to be better and worthier than most people put together. Like Aerith, he sacrifices everything. And also like Aerith, his legacy will live on forever.

[freddy-fazbears-wonderland]

what is a hot take about the FNAF franscise / fandom that you have? You seem to have really good opinions tbh

Lemme give you more than one

A lot of the male characters the fandom obsesses over really aren't shit when you think about it. When you look into them, you realize that most of it is just fandom interpretation, and the characters on their own aren't worth the hype. And I'm not just talking about being underdeveloped. Even just poorly written in general. This is why I am largely uninterested in the Afton family with the exception of Elizabeth.

If Security Breach didn't bring us characters like Gregory, Vanessa and Cassie, I probably would've stayed invested purely in the animatronics.

And while we're on the subject of character writing, a lot female characters in fnaf get done dirty not only in canon but the fandom as well. The most infamous example and one I'm sure everyone agrees with is how Circus Baby was handled after Sister Location and in the books. I'm not completely opposed to the idea of her being manipulated by William.

But they dropped her original characterization entirely just to make her daddy's little girl. That being said, this also could've worked if we got to see how William controlled her become she's just... unwaveringly loyal and we don't get why. The most we could go off on is that William probably knowingly had his daughter endure controlled shocks. I'm so fucking glad Help Wanted 2 dropped and we got OG Circus Baby's characterization back.

But it's also weird that the writers of the fnaf novels thought it was a good idea to make Circus Baby of all characters an attempt at a femme fatale. The character possessed by a freaking kid.

Which is why I'm glad that at least with the games, Steel Wool has been doing better with how the female characters are handled.

That leaves the fandom as a problem the girlies can't be bad or nuanced. Because Elizabeth, who is also a victim much like her brothers, tends to get overlooked at best if nor outright villainized. Like, this girl being a brat makes her irredeemable somehow.

Which is so weird when a popular headcanon is that Michael is the Foxy bully and loved to pick on the Crying Child. But he gets treated with much more grace despite this.

William motherfucking Afton gets treated which more grace despite clearly being an irredeemable villain.

And let's not forget how people were trying to antagonize Vanessa for throwing away Mike's pills. Sure, she could've handled it better but she still helped him out. Hell, she's one of the reasons why Mike was able to get his shit together and become a better guardian for Abby. Despite all her flaws, if she wasn't there, Mike would've lost custody Abby.

There's probably more but those are the only ones I can think of.

Can we talk about how the Clickteam/Scott era of fnaf is overhyped?

Because since he retired, people have gotten rose tinted glasses about that point in fnaf history and have forgotten that a lot of the problems we have with fnaf's writing is his fault.

But because Steel Wool committed the crime of making one bad game, people blame them for fnaf's bad writing. Which isn't true because while Security Breach wasn't good, what we got in writing and what could've been is way better than what Scott would've given us.

My last hot take is that I'm noticing some elitism in the horror side of the fandom. Like, they seem to think that they're true fnaf fans because they're in it for the spooks and think that kids are ruining the franchise when... youngins have always been there. Hell, I have no doubt in my mind they were fnaf kids themselves.

Not even just kids in the fnaf fandom but anyone who dares indulge in fnaf any way they deem unacceptable like making goofy videos or even shipping characters, for example, are somehow ruining the franchise.

It's weird until you realize that a lot of them are toxic anyways, so of course they see harmless fun as a bad thing while actual dogshit behavior like grooming, bullying and the likes get overlooked.

I have to mentally prepare myself for them because I want to make a fnaf shipping series and while it's most likely that it'll just be isolated to just other shippers, you never know. Especially since I've seen two YouTubers make negative videos about fnaf pairings, there is a chance I will have to deal with one of them.

They also have rose tinted glasses about fnaf because they refuse to acknowledge that the franchise was already kinda goofy from the start and not horror 24/7.

Anyways, I'll end it here because I'm pretty sure I'm pushing it and I can’t think of anything else to add.

[jaywalkers]

twenty questions for fic authors

i was tagged by @decaflondonfog! thank you, i loved reading all of your thoughts on your own writing so i'm vv excited to do this.

How many works do you have on AO3? 21 revealed, and then my super secret fic for the @aftgthenandnow fest (which people should totally go and check out if they haven't already)

What's your total AO3 word count? 443,022 words, which is horrifying and likely to hit 500,000 by the end of this year. lord have mercy

What fandoms do you write for? i'm currently very happy in my tfc shaped hole and have been for the last while but i do have some wips floating around for the likes of teen wolf (long live cringe) and mdzs still!

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? these bad boys! total pick'n'mix of fandoms here a made thing [10k, sangcheng, T] sunset, like survival [86k, kandreil, E] postcard mouth [7k, matchablossom, G] the post-impact stage [3k, andreil, G] work song, crawl home [3k, sangcheng, G]

Do you respond to comments? Why/why not? in all honesty once i've written a fic it's out there in the world and i am absent from anything going forward of it. i dearly, dearly appreciate everyone who puts time into commenting because it truly is the thing i stick around fandom for, but i don't have the time or energy a lot of the time to reply effectively and to not just keep repeating thank you's!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? considering it uses the 'Bad Ending' tag, it'll have to be a room full of knives! it is canon-compliant though, so is the angst really my fault?

What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i feel like most of my fics have a somewhat happy ending, if not just a simple open-ended one, but i might say sunbreak for this because the ending of it is very joyful and there isn't much else left to say to hide the happiness.

Do you get hate on any fics? not really! i did get the worlds most insane comment on NOSTOS a couple years ago that was kind of horrible to read but it was anger at a character and not my fic lmao.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? i'd never written it until this year because it was on my writing goals list for the year! i can't really say what kind because i've only written a couple of scenes so i'm not sure where they sit in the grand scheme of things but i have written some!

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've ever written? not really! i am a big AU fan — the kandreil teen wolf au i wrote this year with the beloved and highly esteemed @dayurno is probably the craziest, but i have a kandrew 'gideon the ninth' au planned too! if we're talking actual crossovers, there was a hilarious in-joke au partially written in a group chat a couple of years ago that was a WOH and MDZS law firm au. xue yang owned jby's soul. wei wuxian had bitcoin. i have a customised t-shirt for it.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? yup! and it's the reason i put writing away for about four years when i was in high school because i was so demotivated to share my stuff.

Have you ever had a fic translated? i think there's two or three of my fics that i've given permission for russian translations! i don't think they've been finished though so it would be cool if that ever ends up happening!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? as stated earlier, i spent eight months in an echo-chamber with @dayurno in which we went into a mutual fugue state and came out with wet-eyed banshee kevin and his high school boyfriends. maybe one day we'll get to the twinyards sequel of it i do also have to shoutout @picturedframes who was half of the mastermind behind sunset, like survival, and has contributed an insane amount to other works like diachronic and all that looking down.

What's your all time favourite ship? don't ask me this,,,, it chops and changes from year to year! i think in favour of being nice to myself i'm going to just say percabeth — they're the OGs from day one and they still hold up in my heart

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? either my 'the old guard' wenzhou au, or the other installments of the nostos 'verse! i loved them dearly at the time and i do think they would be well worth writing still, but my interests have moved on fandom-wise slightly! maybe one day i'll revist them, but not any time soon i don't think.

What are your writing strengths? ohh. digging my teeth into a character, i think. i use fic as a way to kind of just write thesis' and loveletters and stories all at the same time, and i think i'm good at holding up a character and writing out what makes them tick! and maybe a weird one but fleshing out the wider world? i'm very proud of like, my background characters. describing people who take coffee orders and who are studying in the library too and who are one-line classmates.

What are your writing weaknesses? this time last year i would have said dialouge but i think i've gotten better at it this year! probably being too verbose. i think i have a tendency to get carried away with thoughts and descriptions and i think sometimes that means they lose their potency when i really need them! it's a goal for next year i think; learning how to pare back my writing and make it more effective.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? ahhhhhh aha ha ha aha . you're talking to the bitch who's current fic is all about kevin relearning gaeilge/irish so you bet there's a lot of dialogue in other languages in it! also diachronic and sunset, like survival both have a substantial amount of other languages: diachronic uses french, gaeilge, and japanese, while sls throws german into the mix!

First fandom you wrote for? the bible just kidding lmao though i did write stories when i was in catholic school with biblical characters. i think it was fairy tail!

Favourite fic you've written? noooooo don't make me answer this one. there's many different questions inside of that one question (what one i'm most proud of, what one i feel the most for, what one i had the most fun with), and i don't think there's one that works for them all. i think i'll say diachronic, maybe, for now. my first forway into the head of my beloved kevin day and certainly not the last.

i don't know who has/hasn't been tagged in this so it's an open invite, but i am going to tag @dayurno @sunriseinorbit @moondal514 @kamyska

[chaosthatsmellsgreen]

Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender thoughts part 1/5)

so... atla live action, huh. after finishing season 1, here are my thoughts in bulletpoint format; it's very long and most of it is spoiler-y, so it's under a cut. (and also in 4 more posts after this). fun fact i spent most of my day writing this, clearly ATLA is very important to me

my general opinion is pretty much "not as bad an adaptation as it could've been but not all that much to see here, on its own OR as an ATLA adaptation"

this is also obviously biased, i'm watching as someone who adores the OG ATLA, but in my comparisons, i'm trying my best to stay away from "they didn't did it the same way = bad" and compare the two in their intentions and execution in what they were trying to do and how they made me feel, but i may fail at that here and there because i have strong feelings.

visuals: this is the easy thing to praise; other than the nighttime scenes, the visuals are pretty well done. i mean... it's a lot of cgi, and it looks like cgi. but, well, i haven't seen big panning shots of fantasy cities done irl since LotR, and i'd be proper shocked if we ever saw them being done again. i thought the cgi was alright, the big shots of the cities were pretty. i really liked the bending as well, it had impact, both the moves and the visual effects of it were reminiscent of the animated show. also also, they did the thing!!! in the siege of the north!!! with the fish and the red and the blue and Yue's eyes!!!! yes yes. made me very happy.

tone: as expected, they went for a darker tone; it's the same fallacy as it always is: making something sadder, edgier and more brutal doesn't actually make it more grown-up. we all know how this one goes, and NATLA is no exception. it's a shame, since one of the greatest strengths of ATLA was that it could maintain a balance of being silly, heartwarming, tragic and epic at the same time. this show does have some great moments of levity, and there is definitely a heart that shines through, despite this being a lot heavier in tone, but it's not quite as well balanced as the OG

starting on "100 years ago": while i'm of the opinion that we didn't really need to see any of this, i think it could've been a great choice if used in the right ways; that is to show how Aang's life used to be joyful and carefree, by showing him having fun with other kids instead of being very much either alone or with Gyatso. as it stands i think they focused a little too much on showing the war itself as opposed to Aang and the airbenders

battle of the air temple: i liked the whole "comet festival" idea - i think it's a good way to explain how basically nobody escaped the genocide. i know the comics also give a good explanation, i'm frankly okay with either. the one thing i didn't love about the battle is what i usually don't love about battle scenes these days, even though it's a small thing: in the beginning we're only shown the airbenders winning and then it's suddenly flipped and it's only the firebenders winning. i wish more battle scenes showed changing odds, like we see both sides winning encounters up to a point and then it starts becoming obvious who's faring better. it's a small point but it would've made the battle far more interesting. it is also a questionable decision to make it a battle specifically, even though we know the air nomads were peaceful people - if Aang is to serve as an example, perhaps to the point of fault. however, this didn't bother me as much as i've seen it bother some other people

Gyatso: i loved him. we saw more of him now than we have before, and i thought he stayed very true to who he was shown to be in the original series. i adored his interactions with Aang. the spirit world stuff was sort of a cop-out; i think i wouldn't have minded it as much if it happened later, but part of the tragedy of what happened during the comet is that Aang doesn't get to talk to anyone he lost, he doesn't get to be told that he's done nothing wrong and be forgiven, he has to forgive himself and process his guilt without being able to talk to the people he's "let down". regardless, Gyatso was a very good mentor figure and the show does a good job of showing just how tragic his loss is to Aang

"we want GoT fans to like this": watching some of the scenes in this first section is ringing "we want fans of game of thrones to enjoy this show" bells, i mean i generally don't mind graphic violence much, i just don't super vibe with it in an ATLA adaptation, and they hold no punches here. also it's so. fucking. dark. in the sense of lighting? hello??? can i see the show i'm trying to watch??? pls??? i lowered the blinds and put my monitor on max brightness and i could still barely see details in nighttime scenes, throughout the whole show. very GoT, good job /s

animal companions: Momo is still nightmare fuel. i'm sorry. he's not cute, he's TERRIFYING. and seeing how he's barely in any scenes, at this point they could've just left him out and spare us the nightmares. tbh Appa has the same problem, but Appa looks much less like a sleep paralysis demon and has more cute moments, even though he's criminally underused.

acting: i'm pretty happy with everyone. i'm not saying they're all putting forth the performances of their lives, but they're all serviceable, i see problems in performance as being more in the exact script and direction than what the actors are doing. my favourite by far though is Ian Ousley's Sokka. very well done young sir, good job!

Sukka: i really enjoy 99% of Sokka and Suki's scenes together, they have a good chemistry, they're both so awkward and clearly have no idea how to talk to each other. however, i hate the little interaction where Sokka is cleaning himself up and Suki is like... creeping on him, idk, that one felt uncomfortable. every time i see a scene like this i kind of consider hey, what would people be saying if the gender roles were reversed? well we all know that. anyway, other than that, i loved watching their awkward teen mutual crush. i also loved watching them fight together against the fire nation soldiers. i actually thought they had more chemistry here than they did in the Kyoshi Island episode in the OG show, i always felt that Suki's interest came out of nowhere at the end of the episode in ATLA, and that they only really hit it off from book 2 onward

the state of the world: i like that there is more of a distrust of strangers in this adaptation - these are people who've lived their entire lives in a war-torn world, used to danger closing in from all sides, they'd be suspicious of any outsiders, and a lot of them would be vary, similar to Suki's mom, to the danger that harbouring the Avatar could bring. i also like how they used the situation to emphasize how Aang is pretty much the only person left who knows what it's like to live in a unified, peaceful world, where people travel and know other cultures

PART 1/5

START // NEXT

[greatwesternway]

Edward for the bingo?

You know what? I like "A Shed for Edward". And I love watching other people be mad about it. On the whole, I feel like people who are mad about that episode seem to want and expect this big dramatic moment where all the OG guys reflect on their long-ass lives together at Tidmouth Sheds and it's all very heartwarming, but the reality is, they weren't that close. And anyway, how many moments like that has the show ever given you before?

That moment they're looking for is in "Forever and Ever" when Gordon asks Edward to come back to Tidmouth Sheds since there's another berth open with Henry deciding to stay at Vicarstown. It's revealed that this is not the first time Gordon has made this proposition and Edward has to gently turn him down yet again.

Edward has no regrets or worries about staying at Wellsworth now because he sees this move the same way literally everyone else does: he's not Gone, he's just Over There. They're all still going to see him all the time. Gordon is the only one getting loopy about it because Gordon took him for granted. Gordon spent years making fun of Edward, telling him ought to be scrapped, preserved, or retired, and calling him weak, small, old, and unreliable.

Edward was, in fact, the most reliable presence in Gordon's life. Gordon is No. 4, meaning the other guys who were there when he first came to the NWR were Thomas, Edward, and Henry. Thomas is... *handwave-y gesture*. Henry was always sick or shut up in a tunnel or just ambiently being a discount version of Gordon which is awkward. Edward is the only other guy in the shed who was consistently present from the first day Gordon arrived on Sodor. And now his presence is gone and Gordon has to wonder if (confront?) the fact that maybe it's his own fault. It's not; this is all just practical as so much of stuff that trains worry about is, but Gordon is a train and so it goes.

While we're on the subject of Edward and Gordon, I'll also throw down that I think "Old Reliable Edward" is the best of the "someone talks shit about Edward and then he shows them the fuck up" episodes. It's the only one where Edward actually puts the screws to the shit talker. "Old Iron" he just gently teases James about having rescued him, "Edward's Exploit" he pulls a miracle out of his ass and lets it speak for itself, "Edward the Really Useful Engine" is just Edward doing his job like usual.

See, what happens is, Edward will pull some stunt like that and everyone will stop saying he should be retired for a while. Then eventually it starts up again. Because after a while they forget about those stunts and even they don't, that was so long ago and Edward's only gotten older since then.

But Edward forcing Gordon to personally acknowledge his necessity, to make him beg for his help getting over the hill and extorting his politeness in receiving it? Gordon won't be forgetting that shit for at least another forty years.

[revive-the-fandom]

Honestly, this post began as a rant about the dreamworks dragons series' inconsistent and faulty writing, and it remains a rant about inconsistent and faulty writing

@guewsy Gustav is, as you point out, an interesting opportunity to develop Hiccup's relationship with his past as an outcast or "weird kid". but the show never explores it. It demonises Gustav, which, in it's own way, is an interesting opportunity for the rest of the riders to turn to Hiccup and say "hey, for the record, the way we feel about Gustav is kind of how we felt about you initially, so can you blames us for not wanting to hang out with you then?" or for Hiccup to say "hey, Gustav is annoying as fuck but I was also annoying as fuck and we're best friends now, so lets give Gustav a chance and try to explain why we don't feel he's ready to be a rider, and how he can do better" or even give Hiccup the chance to have a proper heart to heart with Gustav about his weird kid status, but again, the show does none of this and uses Gustav for comic relief.

Regardless of whose fault it was that Hiccup wasn't accepted by the group, Hiccup still wanted to be accepted, he still wanted to be their friend.

Fishlegs was justified in not wanting to be Hiccup's friend. but it doesn't mean that Hiccup wasn't hurt by him in the process.

Fishlegs laughs at Hiccup multiple times during httyd 1, there was bound to have been at least one instance that hit a nerve with Hiccup. maybe later in their friendship Fishlegs reminisces about an event that Hiccup wasn't there for, because Fishlegs had not invited him. maybe Hiccup didn't initially show Fishlegs his sketchbook because Snotlout had called him girly and weak and weird for liking to draw and Fishlegs had laughed along with him.

I just think that their relationship in httyd 1 set them back a few steps, and caused them to snag along the way to reconnecting. Fishlegs doesn't necessarily need to apologise for any of it, and Hiccup almost definately forgave him for everything, but sometimes shit hits a nerve and you don't forget it even if you forgive it.

and you point out that Astrid likely only saw Hiccup as the Chief's son who had no reason to really like Hiccup - but that's exactly my point.

Astrid acts and talks to Hiccup throughout RoB, DoB and RttE as if they've been best friends since birth who have a perfect understanding of each other when that's blatantly not true.

Astrid repeatedly put Hiccup down in httyd 1, she literally held a blade to his throat to intimidate him. She only came around to him after he had gained respect for himself and his skills (and also put them on a level playing field by intimidating her right back).

so yeah, dreamworks dragons writing continues to ignore its og story

the dragons series had a lot of inconsistencies tbh and I've yet to see anyone spell some of them out? so I'm gonna be the critic i need in my life

Gothi

this childless Grandma is not a healer.

she is a Seeress or a Wise Woman. the Berkians canonically refer to her as The Elder.

A Seeress' job is to commune with gods and spirits (mostly thru getting high) and give advice to their King or Jarl (or Chief). Gothi does this canonically by being the final judge for whether Hiccup or Astrid got to graduate/get the honour of killing the Monstrous Nightmare.

Seeress' were almost always women, although men did occasionally become Seers, it was considered emasculating and unnatural.

Seeress' may also live in high, isolated places in order to be closer to the Gods, which Gothi most definitely does. They could also take vows of silence, which is most likely what Gothi has done, if she isn't physically mute.

Seeress' were highly respected and had a considerably amount of influence over their clan.

Berk's attitude towards the dragons

The end of Httyd 1 showed multiple people riding and co-habituating with Dragons. They had feeding stations (made out of old braziers), stables etc:

But RoB/DoB opens with the village seriously struggling to assimilate the Dragons into their lives, with the Dragons stealing food and shitting in the town square.

Fishlegs & Hiccup

Fishlegs is not Hiccup's friend in Httyd 1, he's one of Hiccup's bullies.

Fishlegs hangs out with Snotlout, the twins and Astrid and laughs along with them when teasing Hiccup. He may be a conflicted or opportunistic bully rather than a flat out asshole, but he's still participating.

Fishlegs is one above Hiccup in the pecking order, if Hiccup's not around to be bullied then Fishlegs is next in line. But as it stands Fishlegs is allowed into the friend circle, whereas Hiccup is not.

Fishlegs is the bully that needs Hiccup around so that he doesn't get bullied himself. He for sure wants to be friends with Hiccup too, but he's not going to risk his position in the group for Hiccup.

Snotlout & bullying Fishlegs

the series (The Iron Gronckle ep mostly) makes out that Snotlout has been terrorising specifically Fishlegs (both physically and verbally) to the point that Fishlegs has become meek and anxious because of him.

which is just blatantly not true, see my above point on Fishlegs being one of the bullies.

Snotlout is mean to Fishlegs, sure. but he's also mean to Hiccup, and on occasion to the Twins. Snotlout is second in command of this group's/generation's pecking order, and he only bows his head to Astrid because she is sitting solidly at the top (and he has a crush on her).

As soon as Astrid is booted off of her pedestal by Hiccup, Snotlout starts acting friendly to Hiccup. So does everyone save Astrid.

and once Hiccup is top dog, Snotlout takes orders from Hiccup, because Hiccup is the most successful and respected of their group. Even when they lead him into dangerous situations like the final battle against the Red/Green Death.

Snotlout is not The Bully TM he's just one of many bullies. He wasn't trying to single people out, he was just trying to fit in with the standard the adults of Berk had set, and one of those standards was bullying the weak.

Astrid & bullying hiccup

the series loves to forget that Astrid was the Leader of the group for most of Httyd 1, and she was at best a passive observer of their bullying Hiccup, and at worst an active participant. She shared Berk's views on "get tough or get out" and applied them to Hiccup.

Astrid took things a step further and started stalking Hiccup as soon as he started out pacing her in training. She pushed him around and hit him, while even Snotlout had only teased him.

Saying that Astrid and Hiccup have "known each other all [their] lives" in RTTE is true in that they have lived in the same village and grown up at the same time, but they most definitely weren't close in Httyd 1.

[elmaxlys]

(og 083)

(:re 096)

(:re 098)

(:re 171)

I'll stop with the panels now but for real. The cross has so much significance for him, for his journey as a character and for others. I'll try not to makes this all about Donato because we're here to talk about his baby son so let's go.

Amon's character (and the whole manga) resolves around the idea that "the world is wrong". Amon starts the manga with the idea that ghouls are the ones that makes it so wrong (due to trauma and likening ghouls to demons <- that part being my own interpretation in the light of him being Catholic). Unlike the main character, who shifts from "The world is wrong" to "heeeh it be like that sometimes", Amon shifts from "The world is wrong and these bastards are the cause so we can solve this by genociding them" to "The world is wrong and it's everyone's fault so changing individually still makes a change and i'm starting with myself" which huh. Catholic character of all times.

As he says, to him the cross he wears represents his naivety. His sin of ignorance. When we look closer, the cross represents faith, not only in God but also in people.

Regarding his path, he had faith in his father - and was utterly betrayed when he turned out to be a ghoul eating his siblings. He wears the cross not to forget that part of him. That stops him from realizing the answer to his big question (why didn't his dad also eat him), because he can't allow himself to see the good in him.

Later (but still in a pre-canon flashback - og ch029 - see expansion on my thoughts relating the cross in this chapter here), he's seen not wearing the cross. He assumes someone is innocent - and is immediately betrayed. After that, he always wears his cross. A reminder not to let his faith in people blind him to the wrong they can cause. Basically don't let the log blind you, look at the speck in the other's eye.

Said faith wanes over time and he's left with immense distrust and only seeing logs everywhere. He's wearing the cross. Then he's stripped of all that makes him himself. He's stripped of his humanity and left looking like the ones he hated so much and on whom he was blaming the world's wrongs. There starts the second series of the manga, :re. In this one, the cross is a symbol of regaining faith. In himself (he was about to let himself die martyr bc he didn't want to be a ghoul then he was convinced that he could still act for the good even with that body), in others' (him giving the cross to Takizawa saying he believes in him which is both symbol of "you won't run off bc you still have to give it back to me" and really. him passing on the faith in himself. The way you can still be good and still be redeemed for the wrong you've done. Very Catholic of him.

(:re 115)

Getting the cross back from Takizawa in 171 reinforces all its meanings: see the evil in other people (Donato is undeniably evil), have faith in people (he still loved you), have faith in yourself (you can love him too, that doesn't make you bad) and faith in God (the hugeass cross he uses to "exorcise" Donato from the world. (and just like demons, that didn't kill Donato, just made him leave. anyway.))

Hope this made sense.

Also! In the first movie (everyone go watch it now), he is pinned in cross position and given stigmata-like wounds which is insane. Watch the scene here.

And have this chapter 124 cover because on top of amazing foreshadowing, the visual is absolutely incredible.

Vote for my boy.

Round 1 - Side B

Propaganda below ⬇️

Amon

Being catholic is literally the only thing he allowed himself to keep that he got from his father (who was a priest who turned out to be cannibal feasting on children in the orphanage he built). Anyone else would go 'the person who taught me this never lived by this and was using it as a cover, there is no reason for me to believe in it anymore' but this madlad decided it's go big or go home (and he just lost his home ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) and hold to it as if his life depended on it (which totaly doesn't represent how conflicted he really feels about his father despite the superficial hate, no sir, not at all, why would you even think that). His cross necklace was a plot point at other character's moral turnabout, his weapon takes a form of a cross, he talks about God when fighting etc. On a lighter note, he once spent all night doing pushups to stop feeling horny about his coworker. What a loser <3

Literally so catholic he cannot fuck he was in the same room as a woman and felt so guilty about being attracted to her he did push ups all night

He's such a catholic himbo he did push ups for 9 hours to distract himself because had a singular horny thought. I'm not even joking, that's canon

He's like if the antichrist made him catholic and he didn't find out until later

This idiot has the general disposition of a communion wafer.

Orphan raised by a serial killer catholic priest that I'll submit in a second. The priest killed and ate (he's a ghoul) the kids in the orphanage and it's even implied he fed the other kids the flesh of the killed kids like hello eucharistic parallel??? He did not kill Koutarou tho bc he loved him like a real son. 15 years after his father's been caught and thrown in ghoul prison and Amon's become a ghoul cop, Amon still wears the cross he had when in the orphanage *puppy eye emoji* also!! His weapon's ultimate form was a giant cross sword made from a part of himself (he became a ghoul at some point in the story). He used it to kill his dad (he failed bc it wasn't his dad's real body but kudos for trying)

I mean homie was raised by a potentially *censored* human eating priest so that’s. Something.

Simon

no propaganda

[mushymushhh]

OKAY ANYWAYS SO. Some thoughts.

(For context of the AU I suggest you check out this post and the tag #sasaclone)

I’ll put it under readmore because it’s Dead Dove sorry….I will draw some more if I have the time BUT! Long long post ahead!

Cw for: death, murder, dereality, depersonalization, the likes, please tell me what else I need to tag for just in case!

- At one point, Rosho start to actually purposely murder the clones because “It doesn’t matter, he’ll come back one way or another”. But Rei doesn’t know, so he keeps on making more and more, so it’s a constant thing between Rosho knowing about and causing the murders but not the clones vs. Rei knowing and made the clones but not the murders.

- Of course Sasaclone is only a product of Rei’s own perception of OG Sasara, so there’s bound to be some Uncanny shits mix in, and this is where it kind of itches Rosho, he couldn’t really pinpoint what exactly it is.

- My friend added on to this: “To think abt it, Rosho never killed the real Sasara at all. It definitely wasn't his fault but hes so ingrained in it like it almost feel like the force of nature something so inevitable. I imagine at some point Rosho just…stops himself and have an empty realization that he has been killing Nothing this whole time.”

- The more Rei recreates Sasaclone the more he turns out to be the Sasara he (and Rosho) remembers and less of what he actually was. The way “Sasara” gradually becoming less of a person and more of a concept,,,just Who was Sasara after all?

- Thinking about how Rei deals with the clones too. He dealt w Ramuda before, but he made Ramuds to be an individual separate from who he was based on, but Sasaclone is Sasara. 　Canon hasn’t really confirm it so I’m pulling this out of my ass BUT Ramuda was made with a bit of creative freedom, or that maybe he started out being a 1:1 clone but as each versions pass he grew to actually be a separate identity from the original, but Sasaclone wasn’t, he was meant to be a complete replica of Sasara.

- Imagine Rei convincing himself that he’s helping Rosho by keep making the Sasaclones but subconsciously it’s him that needed it the most…? “Oh the memories of my partner who i dragged through the dirt trying to play god we're really into it now” kinda thing, yeah.

- What I’m trying to say is that Rosho and Rei should sit down and talk to each other to process their griefs. Maybe this entire AU is just a big metaphor to how they are coping with the lost of a loved one, with Rosho continuously reliving the moment of his friend’s death, full of guilt while Rei keeps recreating his image and struggles keeping it Alive.

I have so much thoughts about that Sasara Cannot Die AU and None (0) of it is safe to talk on main 😭😭